Survey puts Aspen as top U.S. ski town

SmartAsset recently gave it top billing among the best ski towns in America.

"Our analysis sought to find areas that are first and foremost great places to live but that also have access to high-quality skiing," SmartAsset reported. "To that end, we looked at quality of life metrics such as unemployment and housing affordability."

While the cost of Aspen housing is among the most expensive in the country, the survey also weighed in the quality of skiing here, from average snowfall, number of lifts and vertical drop.

"Aspen ranked second in last year's analysis and third in 2014, SmartAsset said. "Since the first edition of our study, the city's unemployment rate has fallen quite a bit. In January 2016, just 2.2 percent of Aspen's population was unemployed. While Aspen has a number of world-renowned ski resorts, one that's particularly popular is (Snowmass). The 3,132-acre resort has 20 ski lifts, three terrain parks and 150 miles of trails.